There are some phrases in the English language that just...sound right, you know? "Tick tock" has a much better flow than "tock tick," and "chat chit" — as opposed to "chit chat" — feels downright wrong.

But have you ever thought about why all of that is? Is it simply because we're used to saying those things a certain way? Or is it a language rule that we don't realize that we know?

Well, we have an answer! According to writer Mark Forsyth, it's the latter. There's a little thing called "the rule of ablaut reduplication," he wrote in an article for the BBC, and it governs how we order words.

"Reduplication in linguistics is when you repeat a word, sometimes with an altered consonant (lovey-dovey, fuddy-duddy, nitty-gritty), and sometimes with an altered vowel: bish-bash-bosh, ding-dang-dong," the author of The Elements of Eloquence said.

"If there are three words then the order has to go I, A, O. If there are two words then the first is I and the second is either A or O," he added.

But that's not all! Forsyth has also gained attention for pointing out another rule of English that most people likely don't think twice about — the proper order of adjectives.

“Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun," Forsyth writes. That's why you'd never ask if anyone's afraid of the "Bad Big Wolf."